When you think of Irving, you might picture a business city with many companies and hotels, bustling with travelers next to the airport.

However, if you follow movies and dramas, you'll find that the image of Irving and the DFW area appears more frequently in American pop culture than you might expect.

One drama I enjoyed watching is Walker, Texas Ranger.

This show, starring Chuck Norris, aired from 1993 to 2001 and was filmed primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Irving is also known as a filming location. The plot is quite simple: a bad guy appears, Chuck Norris chases him down, and if talking doesn't work, a kick comes into play.

At the time, this formula worked. It showcased the Texas Rangers, a law enforcement agency, against a backdrop of vast land, cowboy culture, strong men, and the idea that justice ultimately prevails, appealing to both American and international audiences.

I remember watching this drama and thinking, "Is Texas really like that?"

Years later, driving around the DFW area, I find that the wide roads and dry landscapes I saw on TV are not so unfamiliar after all.

In contrast, the 1999 film Office Space presents a completely different side of Texas.

It's not about Texas catching criminals with guns, but rather about office workers sitting at computers, their souls slowly draining away.

This movie was filmed in various locations around DFW, including the Decker Drive area in Irving.

This oddly fits with Irving. Las Colinas is filled with large offices and corporate facilities.

Filming a movie that humorously mocks the futility of corporate life in such an area seems like a well-chosen location.

Particularly, the humor in Office Space lies in the fact that, even after more than 25 years, the portrayal of office workers hasn't changed much.

Bosses still make strange demands, and meetings are still long. Computers have improved, but the stress for people remains the same.

A completely different work is the 2017 film A Ghost Story. This independent film, starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, was filmed in the North Texas area. It lacks the action of Walker and the overtly funny scenes of Office Space.

Instead, the vast and quiet spaces of Texas create an important atmosphere for the film. Time flows slowly, leaving only space where people once were.

The Texas landscapes we often find boring appear entirely different when captured by a movie camera.

Interestingly, the faces of DFW shown in these works are all different. Walker presents a rough and confident Texas, Office Space depicts a modern corporate city bustling with office workers, and A Ghost Story reveals a wide, quiet, and somewhat lonely Texas.

Irving is similar. If you only think of it as a city with many companies next to the airport, it may seem unremarkable. But if you look a little closer, you'll see that various images of Texas that Americans have seen on TV and in movies overlap in this area.

And if you're commuting to work on a Monday morning near the filming location of Office Space, there's no need to explain why that movie is still funny.